What is an ordinary working person? PM's grammar schools report has the answer | Larry Elliot

All politicians like to think they are in touch with ordinary working people. Harold Wilson teased the blue-blooded Alec Douglas-Home about his inability to connect with ordinary working people ahead of the 1964 election. Margaret Thatcher cited her policy of allowing council tenants to buy their ...

....The Office for National Statistics said there had been a step-change in the employment rate for working mothers since records began in 1996 with almost three-quarters of women with dependent children either in full-time or part-time work. Encouraging women with young children back into the jobs market has been a priority for Labour and Conservative governments, with the latest initiative an offer of 30 hours free childcare for eligible working families. ...

....The Financial Conduct Authority in April proposed has measures to encourage companies to reduce the number of customers in so-called persistent debt. But Liz Truss, a Conservative finance department minister, said: “Labour take it too far and would damage our economy, meaning fewer jobs, higher taxes and more debt. ...

....”. Analysis by the Centre for Health and the Public Interest suggests PFI contracts – a way of financing large-scale infrastructure projects, including schools and hospitals, widely used under Conservative and Labour governments over the past two decades – have generated £831m in profits for private sector firms in the health sector over the past six years alone. ...

....The latest findings amplify those of a report earlier this year, which detected a range of factors holding back minorities in the workplace. Gyimah recalls how the Conservative party had to “change the game so people like me were interviewed”. ...

.... In a new book, my co-authors and I argue that this “first Brexit”, in 1992, led, via a long fuse, to the referendum and its explosive result. Leaving the exchange rate mechanisim emboldened the Eurosceptics in the Conservative party to perfect a guerrilla campaign against our membership of the European Union, which eventually brought us to this juncture. ...

....RMT and Aslef are used to fighting disputes in the public eye and the walkouts have been meticulously planned for maximum political effect. They will coincide with the Conservative party’s annual conference in Manchester and follow proposed action by public sector unions including the PCS and the POA over the government’s refusal to lift the pay cap. ...

....”. Sam Gyimah, a Conservative justice minister and MP for East Surrey, said it was “possible to have effective regulation of Uber withoutpenalising the consumers who benefit from more choice and lowerprices”. ...

....As early retirement becomes a thing of the past, reverse mentoring is seen as a way of helping older workers stay in the game for longer and easing the friction between generations. Watch the Conservative party’s current painful efforts to get its head around what younger voters want, and you get some inkling of why it might be necessary. ...

....MPs are also concerned that private sector investment will be mothballed while Brexit talks continue, damaging the economy’s long-term growth rate. Conservative MP Nicky Morgan, who chairs parliament’s treasury select committee, said: “We have been hearing for some time that business investment has been slowing down and today’s OECD report bears that out and crystallises the fears that many of us had about Brexit dragging down our economy. ...

. Millennials are spending three times more of their income on housing than their grandparents yet are often living in worse accommodation, says a study launched by former Conservative minister David Willetts that warns of a “housing catastrophe”. ...

....The new rules, which were published in a consultation document on Tuesday, also give companies, unions and other employee representatives more time to respond to bids in changes which follow the controversial £115bn attempted takeover of Unilever by Kraft Heinz earlier this year. Ahead of the general election in June, the Conservatives promised that deals driven by “aggressive asset-stripping or tax avoidance” would no longer be welcome. ...

....The chairs of two powerful parliamentary committees have urged the government to set up an independent public inquiry into the £200bn of debt amassed by households. The call by Rachel Reeves, the Labour chair of the business select committee, and Frank Field, the Labour head of the work and pensions select committee, comes as the Conservative-led Treasury select committee plans to hold meetings around the country to examine the impact of debt on individuals and households. ...

....Polling by YouGov, however, believed to be the first survey of public attitudes towards the plants, found that 62% of people would be unhappy living within five miles of one. The poll, commissioned by the climate change charity 10:10, found that only 24% would be unhappy living near an onshore windfarm, which the Conservative party has stymied with tougher planning rules. ...

....The report also backed an acceleration of renewable energy, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and greater flexibility of the energy system through storage and interconnectors with other countries. The party accused the Conservatives of “unravelling” progress on climate change made by the Lib Dems during the coalition government years. ...

....The calculations come as parliament’s education select committee announced it is to hold hearings next month on value for money in higher education, including the controversial issue of high pay among vice-chancellors and senior academics. “We want to examine to what extent the individual student and the taxpayer receives value for money for this considerable financial investment,” said Robert Halfon, the Conservative MP who chairs the committee. ...

....In one sense, this gambit should appeal to the Tories, coming straight out of their playbook. The Conservatives have specifically devoted the past couple of years to breaking stuff, then informing the country that only they can fix it. ...